2012-09-28
2012-10-06
x mr. romney

STATION
MSNBC 45
MSNBCW 44
FOXNEWS 17
CNN 16
CNNW 16
CSPAN 12
WHUT (Howard University Television) 4
WUSA (CBS) 3
KQED (PBS) 2
WETA 2
CNBC 1
KPIX (CBS) 1
KTVU (FOX) 1
LANGUAGE
English 184

Set Clip Length:


of the first presidential debate between governor romney of massachusetts and president obama. you see both men being greeted by their wives on stage. even this portion of the debate is negotiated ahead of time by the campaigns in terms of which members of their family will be joining them on stage. this is, these these are negotiated down to this level of detail. in terms of how the overall debate unfolded, i personally do not know who won this debate. i do feel that we saw this debate format die a very painful death on camera tonight. the contrast between the candidates was stylistic as much as substantive. president obama i think calm and basically explanatory tonight. governor romney, more hyper, and i don't mean that in a negative way, just sort of more amped, more assertive. and that manifests in a way that the debate format was just dismantled. the format and i think the moderator, with all due respect to mr. lehrer dismantled. this is one of those debates, you could predict the score more by time of possession in terms of who was speaking more. then you could by any other individual pla

: al gore said it was the altitude that hurt president obama during the debate rocky mountain high. >> is the former vice president high? >> you all only have a few hours to adjust. >> that's interesting. >> i don't know. >> bill: jon stewart may be getting a bit nervous over my debate with him on saturday. >> o'reilly is 6'5". 250. it's like debating a yeddi. i need to stay away from his paws. if he gets a paw on me. >> it's over. >> bill: we will have the latest on the rumble in washington, d.c. >> bill: caution, you where to enter the no spin zone. the factor begins right now. ♪ >> bill: hi, i'm bill o'reilly. thank you for watching us tonight. what really happened at the debate last night? that is the subject of this evening's talking points memo. shortly after the debate ended, i received an email from one dennis miller who lives in san that barbara, california. mr. miller opining i hope the president's but the -- butt kicking is covered by obama care. apparently mr. miller believes mitt romney won the debate. that's true the governor did win. how do i know? because i turned

debate that barack obama had was four years ago. and the people he's used to sparring with are reporters. >> how did he prepare? how did the president prepare for this? >> we got 45 minutes in before we got a ryan budget mentioned. mitt romney made the choice to put ryan on the ticket. when we look at where the polls started to separate before the convention, right around when ryan was put on the ticket. when do the numbers on medicare and the polling start to go upside down for the republicans? when ryan is put on the ticket. yet we get 45 minutes through the debate before paul ryan is mentioned. he's the incarnation of the modern republican party which will inherit the power that you give to mitt romney since they will be governing from the house most likely. that is the key thing to remind people there is a governing of the republican party that already exists. it's like nailing gel oto the wall. no. you are tied to an actual institutional govern body which actually has a record, which actually is going to propose and vote for things that you actually put on your ticket. they are you

. this is all from last night's debate. watch. >> obama: governor romney and i both agree corporate tax rates are too high. i suspect on social security we have similar position. and governor romney and i agree we got to boost american energy production. we've made enormous process on drawing on ideas on republicans and democrats. >> cenk: it's a debate! this is not when you agree. this is when you disagree! it's a debate! so unfortunately, i had given mitt romney some advice on how he can possibly win this thing and i said, look, come at it from the left. watch what i said before the debate. >> i would attack from the left. you say wait a minute, mitt romney is not a progressive you're right. who cares. you think the media is going to call that out? they're not going to call that out. if mitt romney did a full attack on president obama during the debates from a progressive perspective, that would actually work. and he'd get to say what? i care about the middle class. think guy obviously doesn't. >> cenk: and i talked about the middle class. i talked about poverty banks etc. and then get a lo

the debate. he just looked overall more polished than obama did. i thought the moderating was great. people have to get their views across. i believe that obama during the debate concluded even more to me that he is not what we need over the next four years. he has talked about the same things for the past year during the campaign, which is providing more safety nets for lower income people, putting in more government regulations on small businesses and big businesses, he has not taken china seriously, taking american jobs and being a money manipulator. he has added so much to the national debt to that he promised to reduce. i know it is not all of his fault and the congress is to blame, too, but he is the guy that has to take charge and get people realizing we are on a path to destruction. i think we need a new president in 2012. >> will also take some tweets. karl rove says -- next is a viewer watching us from oklahoma who is a democrat. this is gary. >> thank you. i thought the president held up on mr. romney. mr. romney comes out and tells you he will tax -- not lower taxes on the rich

's economic leadership in a civil debate heavy on substance. president obama appeared more subdued, offering extensive policy details holding back attacks he used on romney on the campaign trail. the president left out the frequent attack about mr. romney's 47% comments. a cnn opinion research poll taken after the debate shows 67% of registered voters believe mitt romney had a better night. 25% said president obama. a cbs poll says 46% of uncommitted voters said romney had the stronger performance. 22% said it was the president. the headline in this mornings usa today, romney seizes offense on obama's record. romney takes fight to obama. after a handshake in the middle of the stage and talk of the president's 20th wedding anniversary, they got down to business with details on taxes and debt and what is best for this country's middle class. >> this is where there's a difference because governor romney's plan calls for a $5 trillion tax cut on top of the bush tax cuts and military spending that the military hasn't asked for. it's $8 trillion. how we pay for that, reduce the deficit and make th

romney beat president obama in last night's televised debate. so the first televised presidential debate that we had was in 1960. here are all of the other years that we have since have televised presidential debates. every four years now we have these debates on tv. the only years, though, so these are all the years, right, right? the only years, though, in which you had an incumbent president running against a challenger in all of the years we've had presidential debates on tv are these years. so in terms of understanding the historical context of what happened last night when mitt romney beat president obama in this first debate, this is the universe of like things to compare it to. this is how to understand it in terms of american political history. it's only these years right here. that's it. now, by definition, you never have an incumbent president in this situation more than once. presidents can only serve two terms so there's only one opportunity when they carry into that debate, when they're running for re-election, they carry into that debate the gravitas of being the president

obama and governor romney will meet on the stage at the university of colorado in their first debate where tens and millions of americans watching at home. the debate will showcase two competing visions for america, two conflicting views of government, a clash of ideas about the kind of democracy we want. it could hardly be a more stark choice for the country. but this is also personal it's about two men and who are and how they will connect with the american people. no doubt about it, this is a big night. join me now, cynthia tucker and erin mcpike who covers the campaign for real clear politics. thank you both for coming on the show. >> thank you. >> thanks for having me. >> erin, let me go to you first. mitt romney is behind. what does he need to cover up? what does he need to do tonight? >> he needs to show, especially middle class voters, that he has a plan. we've already heard from the obama campaign that the president is likely to push mitt romney on specifics and in the past couple of days he has telegraphed that we might see more specifics like immigration, especially tax po

, the other guy is a great debater. mr. romney's senior adviser issued a memo calling president obama, saying that he's a universally-acclaimed public speaker with special gifts. as for congressman paul ryan, he's just gushing about the president's skills. >> president obama's a very -- he's a very gifted speaker. the man's been on the national stage for many years, he's an experienced debater. he's done these kinds of debates before. this is mitt's first time on this kind of a stage. >> forget my running mate. the president's the guy to watch but not everyone agrees. >> i know folks in the media are speculating already on who's going to have the best zingers. i don't know about that. you know, who's going to put the most points on the board. >> you are. no, no, governor romney, he's a good debater. i'm just okay. >> so they are praising each other. but something tells me we won't see too many compliments on that stage tonight. joining me now is rick stengle, editor of "time"'s magazine called, who is telling the truth, the fact war. what does governor romney need to do tonight, in your opini

mitt romney brought his campaign fresh off his first debate with president obama. >> last night was an important night for the country because people got to -- [ applause ] >> a whole lot of cheering over that debate. moments before he hit the stage romney spoke with fox news about his infamous 47% remark and chastised himself fort. he said, quote, it's just completely wrong. mr. romney was no doubt pleased with the reviews of last night's debate, most of which said the former massachusetts governor got the better of president obama. matt jablow spoke tonight with the man who knows a thing or two about presidential debates and said he was just stunned by president obama's poor performance. >> i love these debate. >> reporter: as long-time political correspondent for cnn, frank cesno covered more than his share of debates. >> '84, '88, '94, 2000. >> reporter: but none more interesting than last night's duel in denver. >> because of the expectations that went in were so completely divergent from the results that came out. >> reporter: currently the director of the school of media

room." >>> happening now, just two days before the first obama/romney debate and our new cnn national poll shows the president's lost, lost his post-convention bounce. but there's a different story in the battleground states. >>> mitt romney could make a huge impact on the supreme court. how he could change the direction of the court for decades. >>> they make $10 a day to put their lives on the line. but they could lose their job ifs they don't lose some weight. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> we're now just 36 days from the presidential election and nationally our brand-new cnn/orc poll of likely voters shows the race between president obama and governor romney remaining up for grabs. the president leads 50% to 47%. but his three-point margin is within the poll's sampling error. our chief national correspondent john king is in denver getting ready for the debate over there. that's the site of the debate. john, take us into these numbers. what are you seeing? >> reporter: well, wolf, i can tell you this, talking to senior officials in the romney campaign, they b

. i don't think president barack obama did anything wrong. i just look forward to the upcoming debates. >> this is ruby on twitter saying that governor romney needs to elaborate on what his complete ideas are. this is aaron in utah on the republican line. >> mitt romney gave a lot of courses that he would take. from personal opinion, i have observed that a lot of these budget cuts have decrease the amount of training that we have and mitt romney spoke about he was going to help with that kind of situation. >> what did you think about the format tonight? >> i was impressed with both speakers. they both were very courteous. the moderator was a little timid. he could have stepped in more and kept them in their time zones. >> we will continue on with your calls. this is david axelrod, obama for america's senior adviser. >> when people say what is it exactly that he just said? it thinks we can add $7 truman to our debt -- $7 trillion to our debt. i think governor romney played the american people cheap. i think this problems were clear. >> [indiscernible] we will have a foreign-policy debat

times. past debates show romney and obama have to worry about cut away shots that are less than flattering. in the past both candidates have come across as irritable, patronizing or disengaged. this was chris christie's advice to the candidates yesterday. >> what you do is go out and be yourself. and people either like it or don't. if they don't, they are going to vote for somebody else. not a tragedy. no one dies. >> finally speaking of debates, there was a barn burner last night in massachusetts where scott brown and democratic challenger elizabeth warren faced off in a debate. moderated by nbc's david gregory. it was tense from the outset. >> if you're going to comment on my record, i would at least have you refer to it -- excuse me. i'm not a student in your classroom. please let me respond, okay? >> that was an echo of a quip brown used in 2010 when he told martha kwaurkly i'm not in your courtroom, i'm not a defendant. i the two fought over whether elizabeth warren used her native american heritage to gain employment advantage. >> i listed myself as native american. i was

debate. it was president obama's 20th wedding anniversary. yeah. i think the president got confused at one point he told michele she was out of touch with the middle class and romney he was beautiful as the day met. >> gretchen: today is my 15th wedding anniversary. >> steve: congratulation . >> gretchen: hi, hone, i know you are about to get on the plane. happy birthday to judy who is 70 today and a faithful viewer of "fox and friends". thanks for viewing our shows. >> steve: way to go. >> gretchen: first presidential debate of three on the books. both sides say romney took the night. how did he separate himself from the president? joining us live from denver and alisia up bright and early and looking good in yellow. hello. >> only way to stay away. both the president and governor romney courted the middle class and each presented themselves as its defender and trying to remain focus on the economy. it began cordially and moved to both men drawing stark differences. governor romney set out the goals. which was to correct the misinformation about him and bring out more specifics for

happened last night when mitt romney beat president obama in this first debate, this is the universe of like things to compare it to. this is how to understand it in terms of american political history. it's only these years right here. that's it. now, by definition, you never have an incumbent president in this situation more than once. presidents can only serve two terms so there's only one opportunity when they carry into that debate, when they're running for re-election, they carry into that debate the gravitas of being the president of the united states facing off against some non-president who wants their job. that only happens once per president. and these are the only times that has happened on tv in our nation's history. that's it. and this is the situation that president obama found himself in last night. it's only happened six other times in american history. so how did he do in historical context? there isn't that much historical context, right? like, this is a very knowable thing. honestly, that first one, that first one in 1976 where incumbent president gerald ford face

52.8 million people watched the first debate between senator john mccain and then senator obama four years ago. 80% of the country's adults reported watching at least some of the presidential debates in 2008. >>> enough of the real news, let's huddle up around the water cooler to get you ready for the rumble in the rockies. aides to president obama said he's focusing on looking calm. romney's team says it is loading up the candidate with zingers, one-liners aim the at the president. the campaign told "the new york times" last week, quote, mr. romney's team has concluded that debates are about creating moments and has equipped him with a series of zingers that he's memorized and has been practicing on aides since august. the zinger strategy apparently includes luring president obama into appearing smug or evasive in his responses, especially on questions of the economy. this is where jimmy fallon comes in. >> tomorrow is the first of three debates between myself and president obama. i'm looking forward to having a serious conversation with my opponent about the issues. i've always pre

is the first of three 90-minute debates between president obama and mitt romney. the two men have not been on the same stage together in nearly eight years. tens of millions of people will tune in to watch the keanes go head-to-head for the first time. tell your friends 52.8 million people watched the first debate between senator john mccain and then senator obama four years ago. 80% of the country's adults reported watching at least some of the presidential debates in 2008. >>> enough of the real news, let's huddle up around the water cooler to get you ready for the rumble in the rockies. aides to president obama said he's focusing on looking calm. romney's team says it is loading up the candidate with zingers, one-liners aim the at the president. the campaign told "the new york times" last week, quote, mr. romney's team has concluded that debates are about creating moments and has equipped him with a series of zingers that he's memorized and has been practicing on aides since august. the zinger strategy apparently includes luring president obama into appearing smug or evasive in his resp

moment of unity and harmony in the entire debate. it was the obama's 20th wedding anniversary. president obama would have been in the doghouse if he did not start the debate by recognizing first lady michelle obama in the front row. >> obama: i just want to wish, sweetie, you happy anniversary and let you know a year from now we will not be celebrating it in front of 40 million people. >> bill: maybe even 50 million people. which prompted mitt romney to get off his first zinger of the night. >> romney: congratulations to you, mr. president on your anniversary. i'm sure this was the most romantic place you could imagine here with me. congratulations. >> bill: there you go. >> a rare moment of real, genuine humor from romney bot. >> bill: it was downhill from there. we're going to have a lot of help getting through the debate. all of you, of course, again your calls at 1-866-55-press. diana, congresswoman from colorado will be joining us as well as dennis van roekel, the president of the national education associ

debate. mr. romney in denver and president obama in henderson, nevada. we look at the c-span archival video from past presidential debates to determine whether presidential debates still matter. this hour-long program begins with an update from wall street journal correspondent laura meckler, with how the candidates are preparing for tomorrow night. >> laura meckler, as we look at the first of three presidential debates, this one taking place on the campus of the university of denver, this has been the debate season of expectation by the obama and romney campaigns. what has happened? >> the expectations are being set on two different levels. you have the obama and romney campaigns talking about how great the other guy is. the people in the obama camp cannot stop praising mitt romney. they do not like him in any other way. they think he is a brilliant debater. same on romney's side. they talk about how obama is a debate champion. and how he has set the standard. what they are trying to do is lower expectations for their own performance and talk about their own flaws a bit and raise exp

on this night, 52 million americans watched the first presidential debate between then senator obama and senator mccain. this year, the kneilson company estimates more than 35 million watched president obama's speech at the democratic convention and more than 30 million governor romney's acceptance speech. but lots of people watching tonight may have already cast their ballots. early voting is underway in 10 states including the battleground of ohio. we have team fox coverage tonight. ed henry traveling with the president. first to campaign carl cammeron with the romney camp. carl, this is his big night. what's the thinking about the mood in that campaign? >> well, they kept mr. romney under wraps today in order to keep him focused. he had a very brief meeting with his senior staff and great deal today was actually spent with his staff. they don't want to leave it in the locker room they want him to come out and bring best game this evening. they are quite confident about it by virtue stepping on to the stage tonight as the challenger, mitt romney has the most to gain. they fully expect by virtu

obama and governor mitt romney facing off here in their first debate. with less than five weeks to go until election day, a live look now at the stage here in denver. analysts say both men have a lot of on the line tonight. the president trying to hang on to what is a slim lead in the national polls and most battleground states. governor romney trying to shake up the race by making his case to what should be the biggest television audience of his political career. here's the format for what will happen tonight. six 15-minute segments. the first three on the economy. then healthcare. then the role of government. and finally governing. president obama will go first. won the coin toss. governor romney will have the last word. organizers say they decided that and today we got a preview of the game plan from both sides here on fox news channel. starting with the president's campaign. >> well, we're overcoming what was the worst recession since the great depression. we have made a lot of progress. we are losing 800,000 jobs a month. obviously we have created 5 million jobs. he will talk abo

in the next tw debates and will have to enunciate some details of what he does embrace in terms of obama care. >> compassion or conservative won two elections in this country, severely conservative was tanking in this election. so this was move they had to make if they wanted to be competitive in the election, whether as ben asks it was too late, whether we wiit will seem inauthentic we'll see, going the path they were going was not working. they said they were going to do it, maybe it's come too late but clearly had to happen. >> what's the lesson for the conservative movement that has been waiting so long, waiting a generation to have their ideas lit gaited and put forth in a robust way on the public stage, is the answer now for moderate republicans to say once again you guys were wrong, we're putting you aside again, but we still want you to get out and work and get us elected? >> that's american politics for you. look at the left wing of the democratic party the last four years, conservatives under george w. bush, the base always has their heart broken. >> i don't necessarily dispute that

with that in the debate for an hour and a half? so will obama go after the guy, not play defense, not finesse the guy, knock him out and end this thing. and will the other guy be able to deal with the unexpected, which perhaps will be obama coming after him, not him coming after obama. >> chris, when you talk about the president potentially going after mitt romney, do you mean in terms of stylistic aggression, or do you means in terms of trying to nail him as a flip-flopper or going really aggressively against his policies. which do you mean? >> i would say this. you are promising something new. you keep saying i've got something new. everything you've said sounds like what we got rid of because we had a disaster. as you showed with this excellent opening tonight, we came out of disaster because of those policies. tell me how you're going to be different than w. say the word "w.," you don't even want to say that word. admit where you came from. and then force him to get out there on the cliff and say, i'm going to get rid of the homeowner deduction, get rid of the charitable deduction, because that's

years ago. >> four years ago, barack obama and john mccain faced off in a first debate that was nearly canceled when the republican suspended his campaign because of the meltdown on wall street. the day of their second debate, the stock market dropped 500 points. >> now the troubles are spreading. the market took another dive today, and there are some big names now involved. >> reporter: the day of the third debate, the stock market dropped over 300 points. >> fear that the country could be entering in one of the most serious recessions in decades, led by wall street's 700-point sell-off. >> now four years later, the president who faced john mccain in those debates and beat him faces his new republican challenger for the first time. >> i'm looking forward to head to head. >> an mirror image of '08, a campaign is chaotic mash. new issues, new controversies, every day. the polls are bad for romney and good for obama in the swing states. but the national numbers are as tight as they get. the primaries are over, the conventions are over, but the debates, the home stretch, starts right now.

a lot of the debate. i actually had this memory of 2008 where remember the first debate with obama and john mccain where mccain did not make eye contact through much of the debate with obama. we talked about that a lot. obama not making eye contact with romney a lot. looking down, surprised by romney's strength. and just monot engaged. >> so he was intense. he leaned in. it was like he had a lot of coffee before the debate. and he just was going after the president. my question for you, joe, is why can't he transfer this to the campaign trail? why wouldn't that work? it was great. >> i think that's what everybody said last night. i think he was very comfortable last night talking about facts, talking about information. i don't think -- >> he wasn't explaining a lot of stuff. >> going to chipotle just hanging out with the kids. i'm dead serious. >> i'm talking about speeches and rallies, and there are things people want to hear. i bet you the americans watching last night are the same people who go to rallies. they want to hear this stuff. they want to hear more. >> that's a challen

, president obama back on the campaign trail after a lackluster debate performance. he's about to speak in madison, wisconsin. we're going to hear from him live this hour as he tries to recover. also, we'll hear live from mitt romney. he's now campaigning with new energy and momentum after his showing in the debate last night. plus, big bird thrust into campaign politics and on the defensive. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> only 33 days to election and an entirely new dynamic in the battle between president obama and mitt romney. the republican nominee is widely seen as the winner of last night's debate while even the president's strongest supporters now concede he was not at the top of his game. and now the president is back out there on the campaign trail. he's getting ready to speak at a rally over at the university of wisconsin in madison. we're goingo be hearing from him live this hour. but first, listen to what he said about mitt romney at a rally earlier today before he left denver. >> when i got on to the stage, i met this very spirited fellow who claimed t

. gloria, how damaging was this debate to president obama last night? >> i think we have to let the polls come in. and we'll let the voters decide. but i think you saw from the way the president was behaving on the stump this morning that even he knows that this was a pretty damaging debate for him. look, mitt romney showed up as somebody who was reasonable, as somebody who criticized the president while being respectful of the president. and as somebody those independent voters, those undecided voters, those persuadable voters could take a look at and say, you know, i could see him as a plausible president. just by being there mitt romney was elevated to the level of the president. and he effectively i would have to say took charge of the debate. and the president just sort of did not really push him or force him or challenge him the way we just saw on the stump right now. >> i was pretty surprised by that myself. >> yeah. >> so what's the major lessons the president should be learning from his performance last night? >> well, i think the lesson is that you've got to pay attention to wha

. will they be a factor in tonight's debate? carl rove and dick morris on that. >> obama win? i hope so. >> bill: the vendsen dictator chavez endorsing president obama. dennis miller has some thoughts on the wisdom of that also tonight, what both candidates should say in order to win the denver debated this evening. caution, you are about to enter the no spin zone. the factor begins right now. >> hi, i'm bill o'reilly. thanks for watching us tonight. president obama talking race and class in a very provocative way. will that be an issue in tonight's debate? that is the subject of this evening's talking points memo. the conservative daily caller web site released a full tape of then senator obama speaking to a group of black ministers at hampton university in virginia back in 2007. playing to that crowd, mr. obama brought up unfairness in the wake of hurricane katrina. he cited the stafford act which requires areas that receive federal assistance to pay 10% of what they use. however, when florida was hit by hurricane andrew and new york city by the terror attack on 9/11. the stafford act was waiv

the debate exposed what i believe has been the major blank spot, the hole in president obama's campaign agenda. he has given us very little sense of what he would do with a second term if the public gives him another four years. he was really almost silent on that question last night and only had energy, i thought, when he was attacking romney in the middle section of the debate over his budget, medicare and tax plans. other than that, i don't think people would come away with much of an idea of what president obama would give them if they give him another four years. >> romney, they say, will ultimately rise in the polls because of his debate perfo performance. for that small number of voters that haven't made up their minds, has this helped romney? >> very difficult past few weeks, if last night went well for the president you kind of have a hardening of the belief that the race is virtually sealed, out of reach. the debate has ended that discussion and it's going to remind us, move into the conversation, a reminder that the president faces in this debate. mitt romney did had himself

or flash poll, 67% of the voters said he won the debate. 25% saying president obama won. how did he do it? he challenged the president, never backed down even as the president appeared not to want to push back until the second half of the debate. take a listen. >> i just don't know how the president could have come into office, facing 23 million people out of work, rising unemployment, an economic crisis at the kitchen table and spend his energy and passion for two years for fighting for obamacare instead of fighting for jobs for the american people. it has killed jobs. >> for 18 months, he has been running on this tax plan. and now, five weeks before the election, he is saying his big, bold idea is never mind. >> reporter: now, carol, remember, there are two more preside presidential debates. next week we also have the vice presidential debate. it will be interesting to find out what kind of adjustments team obama will be making over the next few days. >> let's talk about those adjustments. how is the obama campaign reacting to the president's performance today? >> well, you know, first

's campaign co-chair former new hampshire governor john sununu describing president obama's debate performance today. >> he has been lazy and disengaged and has no idea, not only of his own policies, but has no idea what mitt romney's real policies are. p. >> you don't think there will be a better prepared president obama on stage next week? >> when you're not that bright, you can't get better prepared. >> lazy. not that bright. this is the president of the united states he's talking about. he was pressed about .comment. >> did you really need to call the president of the united states lazy? >> yes. i think you saw him admit it the night before when he delivered the pizzas. he said, you know, they're making me do this work. he didn't want to prepare for this debate. he's lazy and disengaged. >> now, we've seen this disrespect right from day one. it cannot be tolerated. mitt romney must denounce a n sununu's ugly talk. joining me now, opinion writer from the "washington post," and victoria defrancesco, a fellow at the university of texas and an msnbc contributor. thanks both of you for being he

with rob portman who's playing the role of president obama in these debate prep sessions. for president obama his foe mitt romney, massachusetts senator john kerry. they've been working on this debate for months and months. an interesting story over the weekend, a passage about what mitt romney's been doing. this from the "new york times." it says, "mr. romney's team has concluded that debates are about creating moments and has equipped him with a series of zingers he has memorizened and has been tracksing on aides since august." now, they're right debates are about moments but ain an amusin image. mitt romney sitting in a room peppering them with zingers. i would like to be on the wall hearing that. >> not about zingers, serious substantive policy. and in "the washington post" showing a virtual dead heat with the president and mitt romney. obama with a slight edge. 49-47%. but also in this survey, it delves down into the expectations game for this debate. what can you tell me about those numbers, peter? >> reporter: despite what chris christie said, and that is sort of another mixed me

opponents in 20 debates. mr. obama on the other hand, he's a bit doughy, i don't think he's in shape for this. and by the way, just minutes ago, north korea accused the united states of plotting to attack it as a steppingstone to dominate asia and has used the word nuclear war. well, how does president obama plan on handling these nut jobs? let me tell you that wednesday's debate, romney is going to broaden his message to include foreign policy. >>> plus we have a surprise increase in the ism manufacturing report. >>> plus again bernanke defends his debt plan. he's enabling the obama treasury to sell trillions of dollars in deficits. >>> hundreds of mexicans are involved in the fast and furious. this is a terrible story, hundreds of mexicans may be involved. should attorney general holder be fired immediately over this new information? >>> the ism signals no recession, that's good. but is the obama-bernanke qe stimulus plan going to bail out the president in this election and what about down the road, does it give us a huge inflationary bubble? lee munson, he's chief investment offic

. look at obama being in the lead nationally and in these targeted states, going into the debate, if, if we sort of change that debate narrative and obama won it and then these numbers come out, people already starting to talk about the race being over. i think it would be even more significant. so just really points up how big that debate performance of romney was to overcome all this news that's been working against him for a while now. jenna: that is interesting painting that other scenario if it didn't happen that way but it did. in the news cycle over next several days, does it wipe out the debate performance by the president because these new numbers look more positive than expected? >> doesn't wipe it out. romney would much rather have these 8.3 and rising and the 7.8% does talk, let him talk about you who the recovery's moving apace. the more significant thing, jenna, though is what the polls were saying before any of this. suddenly we were seeing 57% of americans starting to say that they thought the country was in recovery. only 43% thought it wasn't. there is a real feelin

other way. they think he is a brilliant debater. same on romney's side. they talk about how obama is a debate champion. and how he has set the standard. what they are trying to do is lower expectations for their own performance and talk about their own flaws a bit and raise expectations for the other guy hoping that we will judge the debate itself with that in mind. there is another set of expectations. how important are these debates? you have the romney campaign in a position where they need a game-changing moment. then you have the obama campaign saying this is just another moment for us to have another conversation with the american people. that is a downplaying of the expectations. >> you have been reporting about the separation is taking place for months, most notably when mitt romney was down during the democratic convention. who is helping mitt romney and who is helping president obama? >> mitt romney is being held by a bunch of people. you have senator robb portman playing the role of barack obama. it is his job to get under romney's scan the way they expect obama to get

the debate but bit obama didn't bring it up so he couldn't. this is something he really wanted to distance himself from, soledad, because it has been seen as the source of a lot of problems for mitt romney in the last month. we saw polls widen between president obama and mitt romney especially in key battleground states. but make no mistake the obama campaign is not going to let him get away completely with this reversal. they have been running campaign ads with his own words in the fund-raiser and i think we are going to see them continue to hit him on the 47% and say you know what, this is what we think he accident there's also conversations about an obama flip-flop as well. tell me about that. >> this is kind of a flip-flop, i would say, on enthusiasm or tone. i think whether we were watching president obama on wednesday, it was very much a passive president obama. certainly wasn't what i was expecting, having been object the campaign trail with president obama. he campaigned yesterday in denver in wisconsin and really fired up and really calling mitt romney on what he saw smas of his i

the dynamite to denver? a little over the a day for the presidential debate. both president obama and mitt romney getting ready for their first face-off tomorrow night in colorado. doing the hefty lifting on the number two on the ticket and the candidates' wives. mitt romney is in denver where last night he tried to put the kibosh on predebate winning. >> people want to know who is going to win, who will make the biggest difference and scoring of winning and losing. in my view it's not so much winning and losing or even the people themselves, the president and myself, it's about something bigger than that. these debates are an opportunity for each of us to describe the pathway forward for america that we would choose. >> his rival president obama who is in day number three of debate camp in nevada dropped by one of his own campaign headquarters. >> it was very nice, you know. although, basically, they are keeping me indoors all the time. it's a drag. they are making me do my homework. >> despite the best efforts, the drum beat is building. it's getting louder and louder with great debate e

what this country needs. as far as obama goes, i was leaning toward obama before the debate, but i miss obama. i do not know where he went. in 2008, obama talked to the people. people could relate to what he was saying. he understood where he wanted to go with his ideas. last night, where was he? who was he talking to? i think i am a pretty intelligent person, but i missed half of what he was saying. he needed to talk to his voters. he needed to stand up to romney. when romney said things that were obviously not true, obama needed to tell the people. i did not hear that. i am is still undecided. i would like to hear more of obama refuting, if he can, what romney is saying. i would like to hear more of mitt romney's plan that if obama is not telling the truth about your plans, we need to hear where his plans are going to take us and how he is going to actually make them work. host: that was virginia from florida. david is a mitt romney supporter in arlington, virginia. what did you think about the debate? caller: i am a reluctant romney supporter because of the abomination of the last fo

's debate, what was true and what was not, turn the tables now? can barack obama win by getting out the word he didn't get out last night? and both are big questions tonight that might just decide this presidential election. i'm joined by governor ed rendell and ron reagan, both msnbc analysts. this is a tough blog by a guy who has been very strong for obama over the years. andrew sullivan of the daily beast. he wrote this last night, basically just at the end of the debate. this was a disaster for the president for the key people he needs to reach. his effete wonkish lectures may have jolted a lot of independents into giving romney a second look. obama looked tired, even bored. he kept looking down. he wasn't there. the person with authority on that stage was romney. offered by one of the lamest moderators ever and seized with relish. this was romney the salesman and my gut tells me he sold a few voters on a change tonight. it's beyond depressing, but it's true. gentlemen, that's a tough assessment. it's matched by this, i'm showing you one of the strongest headlines, a full banner basicall

cialis for daily use and a 30-tablet free trial. >>> the first debate in the books, president obama and mitt romney are back on the campaign trail today. the president left colorado today and travelled to wisconsin. then on to virginia and ohio for mr. romney. mitt romney's campaigns in virginia and then florida. monday he's expected, as he said, to start filling in the policy details with the first of several speeches starting with foreign policy. we'll be right back. sleep train's inventory clearance sale ends columbus day. get 3 years interest-free financing on tempur-pedic. save 10%, 20%, even 35% on a huge selection of simmons and sealy clearance mattresses. even get free delivery! don't miss 3 years interest-free financing on tempur-pedic. the inventory clearance sale ends monday. superior service, best selection, lowest price, guaranteed. ♪ sleep train ♪ your ticket to a better night's sleep ♪ >>> welcome back to "hardball." last night was a tough night for the president, of course, but there's another story to be told about mitt romney's performance, which relied on fu

. >>> the first debate in the books, president obama and mitt romney are back on the campaign trail today. the president left colorado today and travelled to wisconsin. then on to virginia and ohio for mr. romney. mitt romney's campaigns in virginia and then florida. monday he's expected, as he said, to start filling in the policy details with the first of several speeches starting with foreign policy. we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] if you had a dollar for every dollar car insurance companies say they'll save you by switching, you'd have like, a ton of dollars. but how are they saving you those dollars? a lot of companies might answer "um" or, "no comment." then there's esurance. born online, raised by technology, and majors in efficiency. so whatever they save, you save. hassle, time, paperwork, hair-tearing-out, and yes, especially dollars. esurance. insurance for the modern world. click or call. >>> welcome back to "hardball." last night was a tough night for the president, of course, but there's another story to be told about mitt romney's performance, which relied on fuzzy m

been in a lot of tough debates. i don't know what you thought. i guess i'm known as an obama supporter and i certainly wanted him to do well last night, and yet i don't get it. i don't quite get it. i thought romney's performance, let's call it that, was masterful. i don't know what the president was up to last night. your thoughts. >> well, i agree with andrew sullivan. i think he's right on in all his points and i agree with you. romney did -- governor romney was terrific last night. he did all the things he had to do to get back in this race, and i am also mystified at the president's strategy. you know, chris, i'm a good sports fan. in fact, i even do sports tv and i write -- >> i know you do. >> and there's a great sports analogy. when you play the perfect defense when you have a lead, when you try to sit on the ball in basketball when you have got a lead, when you play conservative, what often happens is you lose the lead. and i can't for the life of me believe that that's what they did, but that's the only explanation. they told the president, don't be confrontational. they told

debate between mr. obama and mr. romney is behind us. the president is on his own. just weeks ago at the democratic convention he had a nice assist from former president bill clinton. bill clinton has weighed in on this issue. again, it is one thing for you and me to talk about. when bill clinton says something, people start to pay attention. he has weighed in on this and said something i want you to unpack. he has argued that the republicans what the electorate in 2012 to look like the 2010 electorate and not like the 2008 electorate. explain what he meant by thtat. >> if you look at the 2008 electorate, it was a the per se electric, a denver electorate. and it signaled a democrat change in the country and what the electorate will look like going forward in 2016 and beyond. that is why i called the coalition of the ascendant. if you look at 2010, it was an electorate that was older and more conservative. that is why republicans did so well in 2010 and not so well in 2008. clinton said this is not rocket science, that what republicans want to do is they want to make the 2012 elect

that's a prub for him. i think it's an advantage for obama and i think debating someone like john kerry who has this sort of tortured stener toian way of talking will get him in the right groove. >> michelle s that because what romney is doing when he's debating publicly is actually hiding his genuine personality and trying to perform as someone else? >> well, i don't know that he's hiding a genuine personality. we're not entirely clear what his genuine personality but he also just doesn't have a central message. when you are debating it is kind of what every debate expert will tell you is you need a central, clear message. you don't need to approach it like a game of jeopardy. you don't need to come out with too much kind of data even. you need to have something that you can convey very easily and clearly, and it is not clear what mitt romney is trying to convey in any of these situations. >> well, don't worry, he's only been running for six years. michelle cottle, julian ep seen and michael crowley thank you on the possible last days of disco. our thanks to all of you. >>> next, it's

, american people to see him unadorned, except for the moderator and barack obama. how good a debater is he? >> he is very effective. he is terrific and he sat there fluently answering. >> paul: sunday on 60 minutes? >> because he had all this information and insight. that was really impressive. >> paul: do you think she more effective in an environment like that than he is on the stump? >> you can't be tricked in that kind of interview. you don't know what is coming. look at that in contrast what happened to the somewhat disastrous convention speech. before this debate he should be looking at these two speeches where the two opposite polls of success, convention speech where he was in his narrative, byograph and all the rest of it and he has to ask himself, what was made me to make me think this is effective. now everything matters. i have to say i am not going to be that person who wants to touch every base --. >> paul: satisfied voter groups, right, right. okay. campaign is leaking strategy, what mitt romney wants to call barack obama on his deceptions. my question is, is it smart to lea

obama. we didn't expect an aggressively dishonest debater to show up. that's what we got in mitt romney. what could the president have done differently? of course, we'll recalibrate and recalculate based on the mitt romney that showed up last night. we've got two more debates left. now we know what we're dealing with. we know that mitt romney will, in a split second, waulk away from the central policy of his entire economic plan because he knows it's bad politics. he has been campaigning on this $5 trillion tax cut since the beginning of the primaries. and last night he tried to walk away from it, because he knows he's going to have to tell the middle class that he's going to have to raise their taxes if he wants to pay for it. >> the $5 trillion cut, the president talked about that today. that was sort of the heart when you talk about him being honest, it comes down to the tax cuts. >> with well, there's plenty of other examples. >> let me play this one and get your reaction. >> when i got on to the stage, i met this very spirited fellow who claimed to be mitt romney. but it couldn't h

the bright lights of the debate stage, heralding president obama's talents at going this. i'm curious dana, do you think chris christie went off script earlier today, when he said, come thursday morning, we're going to be talking about the outstanding job that mitt rom y romney. he's supposed to be saying my guy has a speech impediment. >> here comes the comical that reed was talking about. he has to come out attacking and trying to dislodge obama. >> did he emerge from any one of them as a clear winner, dana? >> there wasn't any -- he was solid, but with a couple of exceptions, but in each one you would say he won on points. there was no knockout, he was very skilled at that, but that's not to say that obama isn't. i don't think either of them is sort of the classic college debater. but they're both very capable. i'm going out to denver and getting some popcorn and enjoy the show. >> president obama is meeting with seniors and he's talking about medicare. >> mid romney said at the time were he president in this past, he would sign it into law. sign into law the requirement you all come u

to prove on wednesday? >> barack obama he and hiss choice would haven't the debate. after all today's polls are up nine points in ohio. it looks like these debates are just the rapids the president has to go through. if he didn't have them, it would be fair sailing. so for mitt romney, these debates are essential. he's going to have to show that he's presidential. so far when he went to the olympic and maybe gaffed and he stumbled with that 44%. they're not sure they can live with the guy for four years so mitt romney has to really be the one that comes out the winner. he's got to score. >> there was a time between the famous kennedy-nixon tapes that there were no televised debates. why are they considered so vital now? >> well, the kennedy-nixon debates created so much attention in 1960. many people think that's why ted kennedy won. if you recall ford made famously the gap that -- and then certainly by 1980, ronald reagan was very behind in the polls was just able to tidal wave over jimmy carter with quips like there you go again in a sort of staged format. since 1980, they have become par

" article talking about the debates in which you quote "republican strategists fretting over obama's recent rise, said the debates could be the last best chance for romney to deliver a decisive blow, change the narrative and steady his campaign." that's quite a tall order, david. sounds like a level of desperation there and desperation then leads to mistakes as we've seen in the past. is that a worry at all for the romney camp? i've heard some analysts say that he needs a hail mary. i mean, is it that dramatic? >> absolutely. the romney camp won't come out and say that. everybody sort of tries to downplay expectations before these things. all eyes are on romney. he's trailing in the polls nationally and in the swing states. he said to his supporters, hey, you know, when i name a running mate and when i'm at my convention you're going to see the bumps. you haven't seen sustained bumps. this is his chance to do it. he's running out of chances. 60 member people could watch these debates. this is a big chance for him. >> the challenger gets a butch just for sharing a stage with the president in

obama is a superior or turk. i think mitt romney is a better debater. romney, you know, we saw something that we had not seen in a long time. it occurred to me that this reminded me more of the mitt romney i met in 1994 when he was running for the senate and came by and met with me and was incredibly an impressive and analytical and fact driven and pragmatic. this was that guy, not so much the person who had been pretending to be an ideologue for the past few years. obama seemed to be like a team sitting on a lead. i would not have said smog it, i would have just said somebody who did not seem to be terribly hungry for it. -- i would not say smug, just somebody that was not hungry for it. i did not really big in these examples after, i do not particularly care for them. -- these instant polls, i didn't care for them. when you see who did the best job, obama 25, romney 67. obama did better than expected 21%, worse than expected 61%. romney did 82% better than expected, at 10% said they thought he did worse than they expected. my guess is the 10% or partisans. democracy first, a democratic

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